SOC 2370/LAS 2746: Immigration and the Politics of Exclusion

Spring 2016
Banister 106
TTH 1:00 pm 2:25 pm
Instructor: Prof. Marcos Lpez
Office: Adams 212
E-mail: mlopez@bowdoin.edu
Office Hours: Wednesdays, 2-4 pm
Thursdays, 2:30-3:30 pm
Remember, remember always, that all of us, you and I especially, are descended from
immigrants and revolutionists.

Course Description:

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

The United States, like other nations in the global north, heavily relies on external and internal
migrants. In this course we will look carefully at immigration to the U.S., and at other
international cases comparative lessons, to understand the political, economic, and social causes
of migration, the politics of immigrant inclusion/exclusion, and the making of diaspora
communities. Specific topics will include: the politics of citizenship and assimilation, immigrant
illegality and criminality; the global migrant workforce; and how class, gender, race, and sexuality
influence the migrant experience.
Course Goals:
1. Provide students with an advanced understanding of immigration, with particular emphasis
on the social and structural mechanisms that shape immigrant life in the United States and
abroad.
2. Develop students critical thinking and analytical skills to better evaluate contemporary
debates and issues relating to U.S. immigration policy, social inequalities and immigrant
communities.
3. Build a critical awareness and understanding of the need for greater equity, justice, dignity
and voice in immigrant issues.
Required Books and Readings:
The following required books are available through Chegg and are on reserve at H/L Library:
Abrego, Leisy. 2014. Sacrificing Families: Navigating Laws, Labor, and Love Across Borders.
Stanford: Stanford University Press
De Genova, Nicolas, and Nathalie Peutz (Eds.). 2010. The Deportation Regime: Sovereignty,
Space, and the Freedom of Movement. Durham: Duke University Press
Nazario, Sonya. 2007. Enriques Journey: The Story of a Boys Dangerous Odyssey to Reunite with
His Mother. New York: Random House
Park, Lisa and David Pellow. 2011. The Slums of Aspen: Immigrants vs. the Environment in
America's Eden. New York: NYU Press
Rodriguez, Robyn Magalit. 2010. Migrants for Export: How the Philippine State Brokers Labor to
the World. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press
All other readings are available on E-Reserves [ERS].
Expectations and Evaluation:

Attendance and Informed Participation (10%): You are required to read and be prepared to
actively engage with all class readings. Also, you may have two unexcused absences. I take
attendance each day at the beginning of class. Students not present at this time will marked
absent. Each additional unexcused absence will result in a 1% deduction of your final grade.
Exam #1 (20%) and Exam #2 (20%): Each take-home exam is meant to evaluate a students
ability to comprehend and analyze course readings and supporting films. Students will have one
week before the due date to prepare essay responses. Essay responses should be well thought out,
reflect your understanding of the material, and include proper citations.
Response Papers (25%): Reading response papers are due five times over the course of the
semester. Each paper should be 2 pages. Drawing on at least two readings, students are asked to
provide: 1) a brief summary of the readings, including the authors argument; and 2) a critical
response that builds on your own analysis. I encourage students to take risks in their analyses.
Immigration Reform Paper and Presentation (25%): Changing our current immigration policy
is complicated, and as you will learn in this course, muddled with political discourse. In groups of
3-4 students, your final assignment is to analyze and respond to the proposed immigration
legislation from 2013. Final papers should be 15-20 pages. The focus of your analysis is of your
choosing. For example, you are welcome to focus solely on detention, or look at the underlying
issues associated with visa regimes and the U.S. labor market.
Course Policies:
Copies of the readings should be brought to class.
To prevent disruptions, please turn off all electronic devices when class is in session. This
includes computers, tablets and cell phones.
Class begins promptly at 1 pm and ends at 2:25 pm. Do not arrive late or depart early from
class without advanced notice with the instructor. Each student is allowed two unexcused
absence during the term.
At all times show respect and courtesy to fellow students and others in class.
It is important to turn in your assignments by the due date. Late assignments will result in
a 5% deduction per day. Under no circumstances do I accept electronic copies.
I check and reply to email once daily during weekdays and once over the weekend.
Please adhere to the Colleges academic honor code to avoid issues related to academic
dishonesty. The honor code is available in the student handbook.
Grading Scale:
A = 94-100%
A- = 90-93.9%
B+ = 87-89.9%
B = 84-86.9%
B- = 80-83.9%
C+ = 77-79.9%
C = 74-76.9%
C- = 70-73.9%
D = 67-69.9%
F = 65.9% and below
Course Calendar:
I. Migrations in Context
January 26:
Introduction, review syllabus, and course expectations
January 28
[ERS] Vargas, Jose Antonio. 2011. My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant. In The New
York Times, printed 6/22/2011.
[ERS] Huntington, Samuel. 2004. The Hispanic Challenge. In Foreign Policy, printed
March/April 2004.

II: Historicizing Immigration: Citizenship and Race in Question

February 2:
[ERS] Anderson, Benedict. 2006. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origins of
Nationalism. New York: Verso. Read Intro and Chap. 8, pp. 1-7 and 141-154
February 4:
[ERS] Ngai, Mae. 2004. Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern
America. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Read Chap. 1-2, pp. 21-90
[ERS] Luibheid, Eithne. 2007. Looking Like a Lesbian: The Organization of Sexual
Monitoring at the U.S.-Mexican Border. Pp. 106-133 in Women and Migration in the USMexico Borderlands, edited by D. Segura and P. Zavella. Durham: Duke University Press
February 9:
[ERS] Lee, Erika. 2002. The Chinese Exclusion Example: Race, Immigration, and
American Gatekeeping, 1882-1924. Journal of American Ethnic History 21(3): 36-62
[ERS] Fitzgerald, David and David Cook-Martn. 2014. Culling the Masses: The Democratic
Origins of Racist Immigration Policies in the Americas. Cambridge: Harvard University
Press. Read Chap. 5 and 7, pp. 186-216 and 259-298
Due: Response Paper #1
III. The Journey: Causes and Consequences
February 11:
Nazario, Sonia. 2006. Enriques Journey: The Story of a Boys Dangerous Odyssey to
Reunite with His Mother. Read Chap. 1-3, pp. 3-100
Film: Clips from Wetback [2005]
February 16:
Nazario, Sonia. 2006. Enriques Journey: The Story of a Boys Dangerous Odyssey to
Reunite with His Mother. Read Chap. 4-8 and Epilogue, 101-272
[ERS] Falcn, Sylvanna. 2007. Rape as a Weapon of War: Militarized Rape at the USMexico Border. Pp. 203-223 in Women and Migration in the US-Mexico Borderlands,
edited by D. Segura and P. Zavella. Durham: Duke University Press
[ERS] De Leon, Jason. 2015. The Land of Open Graves: Living and Dying on the Migrant
Trail. Berkeley: University of California Press. Read Chap 1, pp. 23-37
Guest Lecture: Bill de la Rosa, Bowdoin College
February 18:
[ERS] Borjas, George. 1999. Heaven's Door: Immigration Policy and the American
Economy. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Read Chap. 1-2, pp. 3-38
[ERS] Executive Office of the President. 2013. The Economic Benefits of Fixing Our
Broken Immigration System. Washington, D.C.
[ERS] Migration Policy Institute. 2013. Side-by-Side Comparison of 2013 Senate
Immigration Bill with Individual 2013 House Bills. Issue Brief No. 7, August 2013
February 23:
[ERS] Harvey, David. 2006. The Limits to Capital. New York: Verso. Read Chap. 13, pp. 373412

February 25:
Rodriguez, Robyn. 2010. Migrants for Export: How the Philippine State Brokers Migrants
to the World. Read Intro and Chap. 1-4, pp. ix-xxviii; 1-92
Due: Response Paper #2
March 1:
Rodriguez, Robyn. 2010. Migrants for Export: How the Philippine State Brokers Migrants
to the World. Read Chap. 5-6 and Conclusion, pp. 93-165
IV. Being in America
March 3:
[ERS] Portes, Alejandro, and Ruben Rumbaut. 2001. Legacies: The Story of the Immigrant
Second Generation. Berkeley: University of California Press Read Chap. 3., pp. 44-69
March 8:
Park, Lisa Sun-Hee and David Pellow. 2011. The Slums of Aspen: Immigrants vs. the
Environment in America's Eden. New York: NYU Press. Read Intro and Chap. 1-3, pp. 1-126
March 10:
Park, Lisa Sun-Hee and David Pellow. 2011. The Slums of Aspen: Immigrants vs. the
Environment in America's Eden. New York: NYU Press. Read Intro and Chap. 3-5, pp. 127210
Film: The Visitor [2008, 104 minutes]
Due: Exam #1
Spring Break: March 12-27
V. Criminalizing Immigrants: Illegality and Deportability
March 29:
[ERS] Foucault, Michel. 2003. 17 March 1976. Pp. 239-64 in Society Must Be Defended:
Lectures at the Collge de France, 1975-1976, edited by Mauro Bertani and Alessandro
Fontana. New York: Picador.
March 31:
De Genova and Peutz. The Deportation Regime: Sovereignty, Space and Freedom of
Movement. Read Part One, pp. 33-65 (optional, pp. 1-17)
- De Genova, The Deportation Regime: Sovereignty, Space, and the Freedom of
Movement
- (Optional) Peutz and De Genova, Introduction
Due: Response Paper #3
April 5:
De Genova and Peutz. The Deportation Regime: Sovereignty, Space and Freedom of
Movement. Read Chap. 3-4, pp. 123-165
- Karakayali and Rigo, Mapping the European Space of Circulation
- Andrijasevic, From Exception to Excess: Detention and Deportations across the
Mediterranean Space
[ERS] Huffer, Lynne and Sheth, Falguni. 2015. When Empathy Isnt Nearly Enough: Why
the Syrian Refugee Crisis Demands More than Mercurial Emotion. Salon.com. Sept. 19,
2015.
April 7:

De Genova and Peutz. The Deportation Regime: Sovereignty, Space and Freedom of
Movement. Read Chap. 2, and 5-6, pp. 101-122 and 166-223
- Cornelisse, Immigrant Detention and the Territoriality of Universal Rights
- Talavera et. al, Deportation in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands: Anticipation,
Experience and Memory
- Gardner, Engulfed: Indian Guest Workers, Bahraini Citizens, and The Structural
Violence of the Kafala System
April 12:
De Genova and Peutz. The Deportation Regime: Sovereignty, Space and Freedom of
Movement. Read Chap. 1, pp. 69-100
- Walters, Deportation, Expulsion, and the Territoriality of Universal Rights.
[ERS] Golash-Boza, Tanya, and Pierrette Hondageu-Sotelo. 2013. Latino Immigrant Men
and the Deportation Crisis: A Gendered Racial Removal Program. Latino Studies 11(3):
271-292
Due: Response Paper #4
VI. Transnational Living and Immigrant Futures
April 14:
[ERS] Jefferies, Julin. 2014. The Production of Illegal Subjects in Massachusetts and
High School Enrollments for Undocumented Youth. Latino Studies 12(1): 65-87
[ERS] Golash-Boza, Tanya. 2014. Forced Transnationalism: Transnational Coping
Strategies and Gendered Stigma among Jamaican Deportees. Global Networks 14(1): 6379
April 19:
Abrego, Leisy. 2014. Sacrificing Families: Navigating Laws, Labor, and Love Across
Borders. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Read Chap. 1-5, pp. 1-132

April 21:
Abrego, Leisy. 2014. Sacrificing Families: Navigating Laws, Labor, and Love Across
Borders. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Read Chap. 1-5, pp. 1-132
April 26:
[ERS] Castles, Steven. 2004. Why Migration Policies Fail. Ethnic and Racial Studies
27:205-227.
[ERS] Golash-Boza, Tanya and Cecilia Menjvar. 2012. "Causes and consequences of
international migration: sociological evidence for the right to mobility." The International
Journal of Human Rights 16:1213-1227.
April 28:
[ERS] Nicholls, William. 2013. From Political Opportunities to Niche-Openings: The
Dilemmas of Mobilizing for Immigrant Rights in Inhospitable Environments. Theory and
Society 43(3): 23-49
[ERS] Unzueta Carrasco, Tania, and Hinda Seif. 2014. Disrupting the Dream:
Undocumented Youth Reframe Citizenship and Deportability Through Anti-Deportation
Activism. Latino Studies 12(1): 279-299
Guest Lecture: Maria Ines Peniche, Member of the Dreamer 9

Due: Response Paper #5

May 3:
Student Presentations
Due Exam #2
May 5:
Student Presentations
May 10:
Student Presentations
Due: Immigration Reform Paper, May 16th